BYU 78, Utah State 72: We billed this as the game of the night, and it certainly didn't disappoint. In one of the best rivalries that no one knows about, BYU jumped out to an early 15-7 lead on the back of Jimmer Fredette, who scored 12 of those 15 points and added an assist in there as well, but Utah State's Brian Green, who buried three straight threes during one stretch, led the Aggie's comeback. USU took a two point lead at one point, but heading into the break the score was tied.
In the second half, BYU again surged into the lead, but some terrific post play by Tai Wesley brought USU back. The problem was Wesley was battling fouls all night -- its the reason he was limited in the first half. This is where it gets tricky. With just over two minutes left in the game, Wesley corralled a defensive rebound. A BYU big man reached for it on his way back down the court defensively. Wesley -- who was hugging the ball more than chinning it -- pivoted to move the ball away from the defender. When he did, his elbow nearly struck the BYU player in the face. With the NCAA's mandate being that referees crack down on swinging elbows, Wesley got called for an intentional foul. Not only did it give BYU two shots and the ball back, but it was Wesley's fifth foul. By the time the Aggie's got the ball back, BYU was up five.*
USU still had a chance. They scored on their next possession and then forced Fredette, who finished with 26 points but was 8-21 from the floor and 5-14 from three, into a contested three off the dribble, but BYU got the offensive rebound. The Cougars ran the shot clock down again, and again Fredette took an off-balance jumper. But Noah Hartsock got yet another offensive rebound and was fouled as he tried a putback. There were under 30 seconds left at this point, and Hartsock iced the game with his two free throws.
This is a very good win for the Cougars. Not only did they pull out a victory against a tournament team, they did it on a night when Fredette didn't shoot particularly well and Jackson Emery was in foul trouble. Noah Hartsock may have been this team's MVP. He made a number of terrific hustle plays -- including coming up with the two big offensive rebounds at the end of the game -- and finished with 15 points and 4 blocks.
For USU, this may be a frustrating loss, but it isn't a bad one. No one can claim a competitive loss in the Marriott Center is a bad loss, especially when you factor in Wesley's foul issues and Brockeith Pane's off night. Brian Green came up huge for this team, as he finished with 17 points on 5-6 shooting from deep. The Aggie's looked as good as advertised, and will be a dangerous team when they visit Georgetown in December.
*(I haven't been able to find video of it -- and I doubt I will -- but in my opinion, the elbow was not intentional. He didn't swing an elbow to clear space. He pivoted away from a defender by rotating his entire body. The way he was holding the ball, his elbow was sticking out. As he pivoted, his elbow went by, and may have made contact with, the defender's face. Did it deserve to be called a foul? I don't think so, but with the NCAA's focus on elbows, I might be able to be convinced otherwise. Did it deserve to be an intentional or flagrant foul? Absolutely not.)
UPDATE: Thanks to a reader in the comments, here is the video:
Preseason NIT Quarterfinals
No. 23 Tennessee 60, Missouri State 56: The Bear's gave the Vols all they could handle. Tennessee was missing starting point guard Melvin Goins, and it was evident as the Vol's couldn't find any level of offensive rhythm after jumping out to an 11 point lead in the first half. Missouri State fought their way back and took the lead, but UT was just good enough defensively to keep the Bears from finding a rhythm of their own. A team full of shooters, Missouri State wasn just 6-26 from the three point line. If there is anything to take out of this game for Vol fans, its that for the second straight night, Tennessee was able to seal the game from the foul line. They hit 7-8 in the final minute -- Trae Golden, starting in Goins' place, knocked down two with under ten seconds left that push Tennessee's lead to 60-56 and sealed the win.
No. 7 Villanova 82, BU 66: Stop me if you've heard this before -- Villanova's backcourt is tough. Corey Fisher (16 points) and Maalik Wayns (12 points, 12 assists) led the way for the Wildcats, who also got 17 points and 8 boards from Antonio Pena. Nova jumped out to a double digit lead early, and while they never quite put BU away, the lead was never less than "comfortable". Fisher still hasn't found his shooting touch -- he was 5-14 tonight and 2-9 last night -- but he's yet to turn the ball over this season. Wayns hasn't been bad either -- just two turnovers in the last two games.
The Pac-10's first embarrassing losses
Seattle 83, Oregon State 80: The Beavers, who were playing on the road, lost to a Seattle team that was 0-3 coming in with losses to San Francisco by 21 and Cal Poly by 16. Ouch.
Rider 77, USC 57: Justin Robinson exploded for 28 points as the Broncs rolled over USC. The Trojans never led in this one. Double ouch.
Other Notable Scores
Ole Miss 77, Murray State 61: Maybe we're sleeping on Ole Miss. The Rebels beat a good Murray State team despite getting just 10 points from Chris Warren. Marquette transfer Nick Williams and Zach Graham combined for 43 points in the win.
No. 19 Memphis 94, Northwestern State 79: The final score is not indicative of the Tiger's performance. They let a 19 point lead turn into a two point deficit as they continue to struggle to find any kind of consistency from their upperclassmen. A good sign? Will Barton's 22 points and 8 rebounds.
St. John's 79, Columbia 66: Columbia might have a chance in the Ivy this season. After putting up 108 points their last time out, the Lions took a 39-35 lead on the jet-lagged Johnnies into half time. But SJU was too much in the second half, as Steve Lavin picked up his first win with the Johnnies, 79-66.
Bradley 59, Loyola Marymount 57: So much for LMU's at large hopes. The Bears used a late 11-0 to erase a 54-46 lead. LMU is now 0-2. For Bradley, it was their second straight come from behind win, as they needed a 19-2 second half run to down Northern Illinois last night.
Iowa State 91, Drake 43: This is your odd score of the night. But your best box score of the night? Scott Christopherson. 11-11 from the floor, 5-5 from three, and 2-2 from the line for 29 points. I think its safe to say he was on fire.
Chattanooga 73, Kennesaw State 69: This a day after beating Georgia Tech by 17. Chattanooga was 0-2.
Colorado College 60, Air Force 57: Colorado College is D-III. To put this in perspective, I got recruiting letters from them. Seriously.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Thursday's Shootaround: Did Utah State get jobbed? |
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11 comments:
here is video to the call
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdOSbZpB8tY&feature=player_embedded
Thanks for the video. The elbow was head high. Good call.
New NCAA Rule this year states any contact by a player's elbow to another player above shoulder level is automatically an Intentional Foul OR a Flagrant Foul. There is no other option. I reviewed the video, saw the elbow to head contact, and as an NCAA official who has been thoroughly trained on this new rule, the officials had no choice but to enforce the rule as written and call the lesser offense - intentional foul - vs a Flagrant Foul, which it was not, and means automatic Ejection for Tai Wesley. Hope that helps calrify.
Weak. There was no contact as per the video. I actually can see no other way he could have moved his body WITHOUT creating contact.
Nice flop BYU.
I know that its the rule. Doesn't mean that it is a good rule. Its actually quite terrible. That may not have cost Utah State the game -- they still had chances, especially if they got a rebound -- but it severely hurt their chances of winning. Down three with the ball is much different than down five without the ball.
Terrible rule, IMO
The rule only applies to certain teams though. Guarantee it if Duke ,North Carolina, Kansas, etc throw elbows, it won't be called.
Wesley sure looks to be hoping to get a connection on that. Based on the new rule, it was absolutely the right call. Whether the rule is a good one might be up for debate, but the application should not. The call also helped atone for a missed T on Wesley earlier, when he pushed Jimmer to the ground after a whistle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYE70Hh9tDA
clearly intentional. if he had just been trying to move the ball away from the defender, he would have stepped his left foot backwards, putting his back between the defender and the ball.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Ara%C3%BAjo_(basketball)#Controversy
BYU definitely liked having the aggressive Rafael Araujo as its center. Anyone here remember when the BYU center knocked out UNLV guard Jerel Blasingame? I remember "diehard" LDS BYU fans laughing it up afterwards, and saying that Araujo simply made a hard-nosed play.
This big guy also tested positive for nandrolene during the 2002 World Championships.
Lastly, I love how the LDS Church and BYU would remove Araujo's numerous tattoos in their publications. I am not here to judge the man, but it is well-known in Utah that LDS members are to refrain from tattoos or body piercings.
The overall point? BYU fans are the biggest hypocrites in the collegiate sports world. BYU players often play dirty, regardless of the sport. When playing at home, they get away with mugging the opposition.
In the end, BYU is a second-tier basketball team. They will get NO FURTHER than the second round of the NCAA Tourney. (They are not in the same league as a Butler, Gonzaga or St. Mary's - teams that have shown they can compete with and beat top-flight teams from the big conferences when it counts.)And even then they will need a good draw and some luck. If they come across someone like Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, they will certainly not be able to rely on favorable calls from the refs.
Wow, tough call on Wesley. I can see why the refs would call it though. And of course, once again helped by a flopping BYU player.
Have to agree and somewhat disgree with Nando's comment. His comment seems to imply that BYU is dirtier than other teams. I don't think they are any dirtier than most teams out there - and this is coming from a diehard Ute fan. But I do agree that many of their fans are hypocrites. In their eyes BYU and its players do no wrong. It's one thing to be a fan; it's another thing to be myopic.
@Nando - So are you an LDS hater just looking for a platform? Umm, yeah, I thought so.
Take your L like a man and hobble back to Logan, a valley too beautiful for a scrub like you.
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